Simmering tensions between traditionalist Republican judges and MAGA judges are starting to boil over.
A federal court isĀ picking an unusual fightĀ with one of the federal judiciaryās governing bodies ā one with implications for literally all aspects of US policy.
In March, the Judicial Conference of the United States, one of the federal courtsā internal governing bodies, announced aĀ new policy intended to combat ājudge-shopping.āĀ Some federal courts effectively allow plaintiffs to choose their own judges, which has allowed many litigants withĀ dubiousĀ or evenĀ ridiculousĀ claims to obtain court orders blocking pretty much any federal policy that they find objectionable.
One court that allowed such judge-shopping, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, announced on Friday thatĀ it will defy the Judicial ConferenceĀ and refuse to implement the new policy. This defiance, if allowed to stand, would render the Judicial Conferenceās new policy virtually useless, as the Northern District of Texas is the locus of the nationās worst problem with judge-shopping.
Among other things, the fact that many right-wing plaintiffs can select Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk to hear their lawsuits has turned this obscure Trump appointee to this Texas federal courtĀ into one of the most powerful public officials in the country.
Kacsmaryk is a former lawyer at a Christian right law firm with aĀ long record of hostilityĀ towardĀ LGBTQĀ rights,Ā abortion, andĀ even many forms of heterosexual sexuality. He is the judge whoĀ attempted to ban the abortion medication mifepristone. And, in his brief period on the bench, heās handed down a long line of orders implementing right-wingĀ policiesĀ onĀ birth control,Ā immigration, andĀ LGBTQ discrimination. He even backed aĀ ban on theater performances he finds objectionable.
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Among other things, the fact that many right-wing plaintiffs can select Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk to hear their lawsuits has turned this obscure Trump appointee to this Texas federal court into one of the most powerful public officials in the country.
It remains to be seen how the broader judiciary ā and the Supreme Court in particular ā will react to the Northern District of Texasās insistence that anyone who wants to sabotage a Biden administration policy should be allowed to select Matthew Kacsmaryk as their judge.
And, no matter how the broader judiciary reacts in the short term, lawyers like Kacsmaryk could easily find themselves in charge of the entire court system if former President Donald Trump has the opportunity to appoint more of him to the federal bench.
As the Washington Postās Josh Dawsey and Michael Scherer described Trumpās approach to the 2022 midterms, āhe made it a near-singular mission to defeat GOP lawmakers who voted for his impeachment and who publicly disputed his claims of election fraud.ā
And, in Snyder v. Phelps (2011), the Court sided with members of a notorious church who protested a fallen marineās funeral with signs featuring anti-gay slurs and the message āThank God for Dead Soldiers.ā
Similarly, when the Court heard oral arguments last February to decide whether to permanently block these laws, Roberts, Kavanaugh, and Barrett all seemed to cling to the pre-Trump Republican position that the government should not regulate speech.
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